Method of producing tear-tape construction



May 22, 1951 J. VON GUNTEN METHOD OF PRODUCING TEAR-TAPE CONSTRUCTION Filed May 4, 1949 IN V EN TOR. [0 Z l o/v 60/1 75 fi W Patented May 22, 1951 METHOD OF PRODUCING TEAR-TAPE CONSTRUCTION Leo J. Von Gunten, Clinton, Ohio, assignor to Wingfoot Corporation, Akron, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application May 4, 1949, Serial No. 91,391

Claims. 1

This invention relates to an improved method of applying a tear tape to a wrapper.

In producing a package according to this invention the tear tape is heat-sealed to the outer surface of the wrapper. The heat and pressure used in making the heat-seal cause the wrapper to be thinned and the bond formed between the wrapper and tape is stronger than the tearing resistance of the pressure-thinned wrapper. When the tape is subsequently used for opening the package it removes a narrow area of the wrapper with it. Although the invention will be described in connection with the use of a rubber hydrochloride tape and wrapper, any heat-sealabie tape may be used and the wrapper may be any of the heat-sealable, thermoplastic films used as packaging materials. Either may be made of one of the various vinyl derivatives, cellulose esters, etc. Preferably the tear tape and wrapper are both made of the same plastic.

Tear tapes are customarily located inside the wrapper of a package. These tear tapes are effective for grained films such as regenerated cellulose, etc., which may be torn very easily and when torn tear in a straight line, but they are very unsatisfactory for films that are grainless or otherwise difficult to tear, such as unstretched films of rubber hydrochloride. Rubber hydrochloride film can be made easily tearable by stretching which imparts a grain to the film, but the unstretched film is less expensive and is widely used as a packaging material. Prior to this invention it was necessary to strengthena tear tape for a grainless wrapper to make it cap able of withstanding the tension to which it is subjected when tearing the wrapper. Even with such reinforced tape it is diflicult to make a clean, straight tear in a grainless wrapper.

This invention provides a tear tape that is very satisfactory for ungrained wrapping films, but it also may be used with grained films. It is applied in such a manner that it need not be specially strengthened or reinforced and since it is on the outside of a wrapper it does not interfere with the proper sealing of the seams. The tape is preferably bonded to the wrapper by passing the tape and the wrapper into the bite of a narrow heated roller and a wider unheated roll having a resilient rubber covering, with the wrapper in contact with the heated roller. pressure exerted on the wrapper by the narrow roller, in sealing the tear tape to it, causes. the wrapper to be thinned along the seal so that the edges of the sealed portion of the wrapper are considerably weaker than the unsealed ad- The 5 0 then into the bite of roller 3 and roll 4.

jacent portions of the wrapper, thereby causing the sealed section to be stripped from the wrapper when the tear tape is pulled. The wrapper is sealed to a relatively thin longitudinal strip of the tape and a substantial portion of the tapes surface on each side of this strip is unsealed. It has been found that with such a bond between the tear tape and the wrapper, a tear tape of unreinforced rubber hydrochloride film has sufiicient tensile strength to withstand the pull needed to tear the sealed section of the tape and wrapper cleanly and easily from the balance of the wrapper, whether this be due to the strength inherent in the unsealed portion of the tape, or to the union of the wrapper to the tape, or whatever the cause.

The wrap is advantageously bonded to the tape as it is fed into a wrapping machine so that the invention is readily adaptable to conventional packaging operations. It will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a preferred apparatus for heat-sealing the tape to a wrapper;

Fig. 2 is a section through the wrapper and tape taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a finished package andshows a tear tape partially torn from the wrapper;

Fig. 4 is a detail view of the heated roller shown in Fig. 1; and

I Fig. 5 is a detail View of another preferred roller that may be used to effect a seal.

Fig. 1 illustrates a preferred apparatus for bonding a tear tape l to a wrapper 2. The sealing unit consists of a narrow roller 3 in pressure contact. with a backing roll t. Tear tape i and wrapper 2 are passed continuously through the bite of roller 3 and roll l where successive sections of the tape and wrapper are bonded together. The resulting sheet is preferably passed directly to a package wrapping machine. A tear tape of rubber hydrochloride film .00170 inch thick has been found to be sufficiently strong for a rubber hydrochloride wrapper of any gauge. Generally the tear tape will be T36- inch to inch wide.

Tear tape I is brought under wrapper 2 and they are passed between two pinch rolls 5 and The pinch rolls 5 maintain constant tension on the wrapper and tape during the sealing operation. Roll lis preferably covered with a resilient, heatresistant rubber cover 6 since a more effective heat-seal can be made with such a resilient backadvantageously be provided in yoke 8 to maintain roller 3 at a constant temperature. The arm. 9.- may be adjusted to various radial: positions on rod ID by a setscrew I3. Thus the pressure exerted on the backing roll 4 by roller 3 may be varied. As illustrated in Fig. 3, the wrapper Zis applied" to an object so that the tear tape I is outside-f the package. Obviously, to form thi package the wrapper 2 must-be much wider with respect to the. tear tape than indicated in Fig. 1. Toopen the package shown in Fig. Sthe. tape i is-grasp edfat end. I'5'ancl pulled away i'rom the packagel This end I5'is not sealed to the wrapper 2 so that it may be readily available for opening. the package. It' is formed by interrupting the sealing operation at periodic intervals as the tape I' -and wrapper 2 are passed through the sealing unit. Such an interruption is indicated in Fig. 1- where the portion IE'of the tear tape is. not sealed to the wrapper.

To form end.I ii'a-cam I6 is preferably located onrthe shaft or. end of roll 4 so that it will be rotated therewith. However, cam It? may bedriven bysuitable means independent. of the apparatus shown. A follower ITfor cam. I5. is mountedjat the lower end of. arm I8. The opposite end of arm..I8' is secured to cross rod I l]. Whenfollower I'I. "rises on cam I6, arm #8 rotates cr'oss rod III, swingingarm 9 away-from roll 4 and lifting'the roller. 3 'out of contact with the. wrapper. A. spring I9 is connected between the lower portion of arm It and any convenient portion of the frame structure. tohold follower H in contact with cam I6; Then, as the sealed wrapperjand' tape are passed into the wrapping machine-they are cuteither in the. middle of the unsealed portion' I5 or at either end of it to form the free; end. I5'of the tear tape.

It will be noted in Fig- 1 that theheated roller 3 bears on the wrapper and presses, it into-the tape inmaking the heat-seal. This causes wrapper 2 to be. thinned so that it is. considerably weakened along the edges of the sealed portion." Wrapper 2 is united to a relatively narrow'strip. of the tear tape I. A cross section of'theseal'ed tape and the wrapper is shown in Fig.2. The numeral indicates the thinned, bondedpor' tion of the wrapper 2. The unsealed edges 2Iof the tear tape I and the bonded section 20 are capable of withstanding the tension to which the.

tape is subjected in stripping the seal 20 out of" for'uniting two plies of the rubber hydrochloride" or: other material'employed, will not produceas'v desirable a bondas a somewhat-higher tempera;

ture or pressure. Both" the temperature and pressure" may be greater than ordinarily employed."

The most satisfactory conditions will be deter mined by the gauge and composition of the wrapping material and tape, the speed with which the materials are passed through the apparatus, etc.

Since the tear tape I is preferably applied to the:W'rapper-2: asit is fed. intoa. wrapping machine, theispeed that the. materialsmust be passed through the sealing unit will be governed by the speed of the particular wrapping machine. To

tackify a wrapper and tear tape composed of rubbetnydieenwaue; they will be heated above 220 FF; th'e preferred temperature depending on their plasticizer content,. etc. Because they are passed rapidly; throughthe sealing unit, they must be heatedr to'. coalescing temperature quickly. More heat. is lost by radiation and conduction than witfi'If'the" use-er heat-sealing devices, therefore roller. 3/will generally be at a considerably higher temperature than would' 'be the heat-sealing element. of the usual apparatus. Thepressureexerte'd by r'o'lleftj'isalso preferably greater than in the usual lieat' se'aling operation to reduce the gaugie'of thewiapp'r and'weak'en it. The pressiirwillfvary'witlYth'e gauge of the wrapper and thjspee'd at'whichit is run.' 7

It"wa s. found'in. an experimental test that a wrapper if of! rubber hydrochloride film .00Q'75 inch thick 3(known commercially as FF Pliofilinjilcould be proper-lyheat-sealed to a'tear tape oiEthe same-composition, also .00170 inch thick, at a speed. of; 6;) feet: per minute while the heated roller-3 wasat;approximately-350 F. and exerting aypressure of about three pounds-on r0114. The

pressure exertedonroll 4- wasmeasured by lifting itefrom roll' l with a spring scale. The wrapper and -tape were-both-made'from film produced by castinga solution of rubber hydrochloride on a flat-surface and then evaporating-the solvent.

such film-is grainless. The roller 3 was a steeldiscapproximately Zinches in diameter'the'peripheral surface of which was flat with slightlyradiused edges. The rubber-covered backing roll- 4; was-.-approximately 5 inches indiameter.

Thepa'ckage ofzFig. 3is of: unusual design because=the tear tape-is not designedtofacilitate removal-.of-the-wrapper; but-merely toform a slit in-onesurf-acer Such-a package maygbe used for example for paper. tissue sheets which -'are to be removed-fromthe package one at a time. This typeofspackageis one 'very useful application of' projections-25 by Which'a. double seal is'f orme dfbetween the materials. These projections weaken theawrapper in the same manner as the edge of roller (i -weakens it. Wrapper 2v is imperforate;

after the sealIiszformd' with either roller 3. or-

roller. 24'." g I I I Itli's understoodthatthe inventionis not limited'ito use. with rubber hydrochloride materials.

This method may be usedin applying a tear tape;

oflany heatsealabl composition to any-thermoplastic vand;heat-scalable packaging material. It may beapplied to a. wrapper for any object. re! garmessifbr its size or Shape.-

lI'A method" of? applying a heat-scalable tear] tape "to" a "uiermtpiasut; heat-scalable mm wrapper for a package, which method comprises superimposing the tear tape and wrapper and applying heat and pressure on a portion of the surface of the wrapper away from the tear tape to bond the wrapper to the tear tape, thereby reducing the gauge of the bonded area of the wrapper and appreciably weakening the wrapper along the edges of the bonded area.

2. A method for bonding heat-scalable tear tape to a substantially grainless thermoplastic, heat-scalable film which comprises the continuous operation of heating portions of the film and the tear tape and simultaneously therewith applying pressure to a narrow area of the heated film to bond the film to the tear tape, the pressure applied to the film being sufficient tothin the narrow area and weaken it along its edges whereby the bonded area of the film is strippable from the remainder of the film by exerting tension on the tear tape.

3. A method for bonding a heat-sealable tear tape to a thermoplastic, heat-scalable film wrapper for a package, which method comprises the continuous operation of superimposing the tear tape and the wrapper, applying heat and pressure to a narrow area of the surface of the wrapper away from the tear tape to bond the wrapper to the tear tape and reduce the gauge of that area of the wrapper, weakening it along its edges, and periodically interrupting said bonding operation to provide accessible unbonded portions of the tear tape.

4. A method for bonding a heat-scalable tear tape to a grainless rubber hydrochloride film wrapper used as a packaging material, which method comprises the continuous operation of superimposing the tear tape and wrapper and applying heat and pressure to a narrow area of that surface of the wrapper away from the tear tape to bond the wrapper to the tape and reduce the gauge of that area of the wrapper and appreciably weaken the wrapper along the edges of that area to permit the bonded area of the wrapper to be broken when pull is exerted on the tear tape.

5. A method for bonding a substantially grainless rubber hydrochloride tear tape to a substantially grainless rubber hydrochloride film which comprises bringing a surface of the tear tape into flat surface contact with the film and applying heat and pressure to a narrow area of the surface of the film away from the tear tape to bond the film to the tape and reduce the gauge of the bonded area of the wrapper and appreciably weaken the wrapper along the edges of the bonded area.

LEO J. VON GUNTEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Little Aug. 28, 1945 

